Life After You
by klash62
Summary: When the trio leaves their 7th year of Hogwarts to embark on a mission that Dumbledore had laid out for them, they never expected all of the problems that would come their wy. So, when Ron gives up and decides he's done hunting Horcruxes, he gives Hermione an ultimatum: stay with Harry or leave with him.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:  
Hermione

Hermione woke up, as always, from a terrible nightmare. The war was over; Voldemort had died, six months ago in fact. But, no one had seen Harry since she and Ron left him that night in their search for Horcruxes. She couldn't remember now, exactly why she had decided to leave. All she could remember, was that in the heat of the moment, she knew Harry would forgiver her for leaving and Ron would never forgive her for staying. So, she packed everything except for the things that she thought would help Harry, and she and Ron ventured of onto their own. If she could go back and re-choose, she would stay. Hindsight is _always_ 20/20.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep, she crawled out of bed and walked to her kitchen. Hermione and Ron, not knowing how to move on, had married and moved into an apartment once the war ended. She looked at the clock above their sink: 3:17 AM. She took a deep breath and sighed. She made herself a cup of tea and sat down at their table. She had been there for a mere seven minutes before the big light flipped on. She looked up to see her husband standing in the entry way. She didn't say anything.

"Hello, Hermione." Ron said hatefully.

She could smell the whiskey on him from across the room.

"Ronald." She spat back.

He just looked out her, anger brimming in his eyes.

"Why are you drinking at 3 in the morning?" Hermione asked, she didn't really care though. Things had been bad lately. Really bad.

"My best friend is missing, Hermione. Probably dead." Ron said, his voice steady. He drank so much he built up a tolerance to the alcohol; it never phased him or his speech.

"He was my best friend, too. I don't need it." She replied.

"YOU SCREAM HIS NAME IN YOUR SLEEP, HERMIONE!" Ron yelled at her. "You say you don't need it, but what are you using to numb the pain? I don't only drink this because he's gone. I drink this because I left him. I drink it because I made you leave him. If it weren't for that he'd probably still be here. This -" He waved his arm in the air as if he actually meant the apartment. "All of this is my fault. I have to live with this." He finished.

Hermione walked across the room and slapped Ron's faced. "Don't. You. Dare. You don't belittle my pain. I left, too. I have regrets, too. But Harry's death-" Hermione shuttered and swallowed deeply. "Harry's disappearance was worth more than that. You don't get to act like this is all out of spite." Hermione took his bottle and smashed it on the floor. She couldn't stand to see him like this; she could barely stand to see him at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:  
Hermione

Hermione wrapped herself in her trench coat and left through the front door. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she had to get away from there. She couldn't bear to stand there and listen to Ron shout at her any more. So, in the security of the darkest hour, she walked to the corner of their street and turned around the bend. She had been walking in the same direction for 25 minutes before she finally looked up: tears clouding her vision.

Hermione, who was a very level headed woman, had never been a crier. But lately, it seemed she had been doing a lot of just that. She cried for Ron, and for herself. _We just aren't the same people, anymore._ She tried to justify to herself. But that only made it worse. So she would continue to cry – she cried for a thousand different people and 37 might-have-beens, but what good would that do? She couldn't remember where they had went wrong anyways; except that she remembered _exactly_ where she had went wrong. Though admitting that would be like saying that she should have never married Ron in the first place. But should she have?

She knew she loved Ron- but had it ever been the kind of love that caused people to get married? She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes; she couldn't afford to think like that, so she kept walking.

"Harry's not here." She said to no one, but that didn't seem to help her any. "HE'S NOT HERE!" She said again, this time shouting, as she fell to her knees.

She dreamt of green sparks and a lightning bolt that looked more like cut-flesh than electricity. She saw a flash of his subtly gut-wrenching, emerald-green eyes and it jerked her awake again. Hermione couldn't remember how or when she got home, but there she was, lying on her couch, still in her trench coat.

Her apartment was filled with silence: the kind of silence you can feel, the kind that only exists when one is alone. She didn't have to look for him or yell his name to know that he wasn't there, but she did.

"Ron!?"

Silence.

"Ron, are you here?" she asked, knowing the answer.

Nothing.

Ron hadn't been the kind of person that left the house in a long time. In fact, it had been a long time since Ron had even been sober enough to leave. Hermione didn't know where Ron would have gone. She knew she ought to have been worried, but rather, she felt an odd sense of serenity knowing that she was alone.

Since the demise of Voldemort, and the end of the war, Hermione had been the strong one; she had been the one to 'pick herself up by her bootstraps' and 'move on'. She had, almost immediately, returned home and gotten a job. Professor McGonagall had, of course, asked her to complete her Hogwarts schooling, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to go without Harry. _God, where was Harry?_ So, without thinking twice, she took a job at the Ministry. With Shacklebolt being Minister, there was no reason to avoid it.

She was happy there, as happy as she could be. At least, that's what she told herself. However, no matter how hard she tried, Ron always made her feel guilty: saying things like "How can you go on knowing he is missing?" She couldn't go on; that's why she was working – to distract herself.

One day she had sworn to herself, and to Ron, that she had had enough of his 'ass whole tendencies' (as she had referred to the them. She packed all of her clothes and moved home to her parents. Ron had given her three days to 'cool down' before he came to get her. He swore he'd change. He hadn't. The only thing different is now he doesn't verbally question how she feels about just leaving Harry the way they did, but she knows he still doubts her. She can see it in his eyes when he talks about it. _What does he know anyways? He's a goddamn drunk._

But here she was, still. Making excuses for herself, reasoning with no one about why she was still here. _He needs me._ She would say to her reflection. _I need him._ She had picked up the bad habit of lying to herself. They didn't need each other and she knew it, but she couldn't bear to think that she was making herself miserable for no reason. So, she gave herself a reason. Of all the accomplishments she had achieved in her lifetime, her marriage was no longer one of them.

 _One day, we will find Harry. One day we will be happy again._

At least, that's what she told herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hermione

Hermione wasn't really expecting Harry to show up at her doorstep: especially if he had heard about Ginny's death. Another thing she hadn't been expecting was an owl to show up in the middle of the night, addressed to her, but one did.

Ron had just went to bed, in a drunken stupor, an hour before; Hermione was laying on her sofa, watching the news, it was 1AM. She had watched the news every night since they had left him, hoping she wouldn't hear his name. The apartment was fairly silent, so when the owl tapped on the window with it's talons, Hermione lept off the couch in fright. She looked around frantically for a few moments before seeing the grey owl perched on her window sill. She walked over and opened it.

The owl held out it's leg for Hermione to untie the letter from it. She took it and the owl flew away, instantly. There was no name anywhere on the paper, but she recognized the handwriting instantly. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Harry!" She poked her head out the window and looked around, as if he were standing there waiting on her. When she didn't find him, she looked down at the note.

 **Godric's Hollow.**

 **Tonight.**

 **3 AM.**

Hermione wasn't sure what to think, do, believe. Was this really from Harry? Should she wake Ron? She looked back down at the note, and saw that Harry had written one other word, almost as if he had read Hermione's mind.

 **Alone.**

Hermione sat down, in disbelief for several minutes. She couldn't believe that after all this time, Harry was trying to get in touch with her. _What if this is a trick? What if it's not from Harry? What if it is from Harry and he doesn't show?_

She couldn't take wondering. So, she decided to get some sleep before time to go. She folded up the note, put it in her pocket and set an alarm for 2:43.

When the alarm went off, she woke instantly and waited to make sure it hadn't woke Ron. When she didn't hear him moving, she put her coat on, walked outside and down the streeet, then disapperated. When she showed up in Godric's Hollow, she realized that she didn't know where she was going in Godric's Hollow. She started with the grave yard. Harry wasn't there. She didn't think he would ever return to the remains of his parents' house, but she didn't know where else to look. She walked up to the house that looked as if it had been hit by a tornado. She stepped towards the area that would have been the door, had there been one. She stood there, looking around at all the remnants of the Potter's home, but she could not bring herself to go inside.

She looked down at her watch: 2:57. _Where is he?_ Again, as if he had read her mind, Harry spoke up.

"Hermione?" he said.

She turned around. She could not believe her eyes.

"Harry!" Hermione said in an excited whisper.

She ran towards him, but the when she got close she stopped, Harry was stepping away from her. She stood there and just stared at him for a few moments before looking to her feet. No one said anything for several minutes.

"Why am I here, Harry?" Hermione asked, playing with her hands.

"I don't really know." He said.

"You must have had some reason for asking me to come."

"I. Well. I've been living a lonely life, Hermione. I guess I just wanted some interaction. I haven't heard from you or Ron or Ginny since you left. I haven't heard from anyone." He said.

Hermione stiffened. Harry didn't know about Ginny. _Does he know that Ron and I are married?_ She wondered to herself.

"Harry, I haven't seen you in so long, and this isn't really a conversation I want to have with you first thing, but there's no use pushing it off. Let's sit down somewhere, where are you staying?" She said

Harry's eyes raised to the house behind her.

"No." She Hermione whispered. "Harry, why?"

"Where else was I supposed to go?" He asked.

"Anywhere else." She said.

"Just come on." He said, and they walked inside


End file.
